Of the Clare team that started the All-Ireland senior hurling final, Cathal Malone was the only one not to be nominated for an All-Star this morning.
It's the same fate that befell Gearoid Hegarty last year where 14 Limerick players made it onto the shortlist, leaving him as the only omission.
Malone's Clare team-mate Tony Kelly is among the six players nominated in midfield for this year's award, along with Cork duo Darragh Fitzgibbon and Tim O'Mahony.
Kilkenny's Cian Kenny, Dublin's Conor Burke and Limerick's Young Hurler of the Year nominee Cathal O'Neill also got in ahead of Malone, with the award ceremony taking place on Friday November 1 in the RDS.
The common theme for the nominated midfielders is that they are all high scorers, perhaps leaving O'Mahony aside, although he did score three from play in the All-Ireland final.
The dogs on the street are aware of Tony Kelly's scoring prowess while Darragh Fitzgibbon racked up a whopping 0-24 from play this year.
Conor Burke managed 1-18 from play for Dublin with Cian Kenny striking 0-18 in a brilliant campaign for Kilkenny.
Cathal O'Neill, meanwhile, hit 0-14 for Limerick in another outstanding contribution from a midfielder, while Malone scored just one point from play.
A midfielder's job isn't all about scoring and some hurling followers feel the less quantifiables have been undermined in Malone's omission.
The areas such as the hooks, blocks, breaking balls, clusters and the work-rate, in other words, the less glamorous side of a hurling midfielder's job.
Cian Kenny had a brilliant campaign for Kilkenny. Sportsfile.
It caused quite a stir on Twitter this morning, where the Sixmilebridge clubman was described as an unsung hero.
Here's a flavour of the blow-back.
Cathal Malone - Clare’s unsung hero as confirmed by his omission from the 45 All Star nominees.
Workrate, hooks, blocks & tackles obviously not considered by the ‘expert’ judging panel.
Well done to the fourteen Clare hurlers shortlisted. #GAA
— Páraic McMahon (@thepmanofficial) September 20, 2024
No nomination for arguably @GaaClare most consistent hurler all year Cathal Malone , What a joke https://t.co/J8qVy0jF3W
— James Brody (@jamesbrody78) September 20, 2024
Ollie Baker had Cathal Malone in his team, never mind not even getting nominated https://t.co/QNHpoYjPkp
— Smaller Fish GAA (@SmallerFishGAA) September 20, 2024
The midfield division was very competitive this year and the tallies racked up by Fitzgibbon, Burke, Kenny, Kelly and O'Neill would have been very hard for the selection committee to ignore.
They would probably argue that, when it comes to work-rate, those five don't short-change it either.
So maybe it was a straight shoot-out between O'Mahony and Malone for the final spot.
Do we feel there should have been a place for 2020 and 2021 nominee Malone?
